A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel (PDP), more particularly to a three-electrode PDP.
B. Description of the Prior Art
The unit cell of a conventional three-electrode surface discharging PDP is constructed, as shown in FIG. 1, in such a manner that a scan electrode 2 to which a scan pulse is applied during address period and a sustain electrode 3 to which a sustain pulse for maintaining discharge are formed on an upper substrate 10, a data electrode 1 to which a data pulse for generating sustain discharge between scan electrode 2 and sustain electrode 3 is formed on a lower substrate 20, a dielectric layer 6 is coated under upper substrate 10 for protecting scan electrode 2 and sustain electrode 3, and an R, G, B phosphor 5 is formed on data electrode 1 and placed between barriers 4 supporting upper and lower substrates 10 and 20. A cell (not shown) is formed at a portion where a vertical electrode (that is, scan electrode 2 and sustain electrode 3) intersects a horizontal electrode (that is, data electrode 1) and these cells construct a PDP.
A general operation of the three-electrode surface discharging PDP is explained below. First of all, a reset pulse is supplied to scan electrode 2, and then a write enable pulse is applied thereto. Here, when a write pulse is applied to data electrode 1 of a cell to be displayed, discharging occurs in a selected scan line, and wall charge is formed. Thereafter, when the sustain pulse is applied to sustain electrode 3, the discharging is maintained and the scan electrode make a couple with the sustain electrode, sustaining the discharge.
In the aforementioned conventional PDP, and as shown in FIG. 2, barriers 4 and data electrode 1 are formed in parallel with each other, allowing plasma to be freely diffused between cells which are vertically adjacent to each other. However, this may bring about crosstalk, undesirable discharge, between the cells. Furthermore, the barrier of the conventional PDP is formed on the lower substrate. Thus, if there is a gap between the barrier and upper substrate, plasma is diffused to other cells through the gap, and it can easily generate undesirable discharge even at low voltage, deteriorating the picture quality.